Nancy Drew: The Final Scene

The Good
Her Interactive has finally gotten it right! Their programming team has produced another game that installs and runs perfectly with an interface that is simple to use.

The 3D graphic environment is pleasing to the eye. The old theater has everything you’d expect – a Lobby with Refreshment stand and amusements for the waiting audience, Main Floor seating, a Balcony as well as private Box Seats, Dressing Rooms and a Back Stage area and a Projection room. In addition there are hidden “secret” passages and rooms incorporated into the theater’s design for use by the live performers. Even though it looks like 3D, there is no panning so you can only look where your cursor allows you to click.

The characters are lifelike and have personalities which come through in their body actions and speech. Voices sound appropriate for each person, and the lip sync looks flawless. There are more characters for Nancy to call in this game than in previous ones, and those conversations (although somewhat lengthy) also reflect the individual personality of the person on the other end of the telephone.

The “day to night” clock has been eliminated! No more going back and forth just to adjust the time of day.

As in previous games, you can choose between 2 difficulty levels (Junior or Senior Detective). I played both and found no difference in the game other than a change in the puzzle design and difficulty. All of the puzzles can be described as “parlor games” which are solved by trial and error and for which no clues are necessary or required. A few of the puzzles can be played again after solving them once, which is kind of neat.

The Bad
As I said before, the game runs beautifully. There are still some things inherent in the entire series that I would like to see changed in later releases (but probably won’t happen).

The Good
I have two other Nancy Drew games, "Message in the Haunted Mansion" and "Treasure in the Royal Tower," and I enjoyed both of them highly, so I was excited to purchase the sequel. I wasn't disappointed. This time, Nancy's friend, school newspaper reporter Maya Nyugen, is kidnapped at the Royal Palladium Theater, set to be demolished in three days. The kidnapper says that Maya will go down with the building if they don't stop the demolition.

The graphics, as usual, are absolutely beautiful. The theater is large and architectually interesting with lots of hidden rooms and places to explore. The characters are animated very well, and the vocals are especially well-done, good inflection on the words and the like. The characters all have motives and full backgrounds, and I found them to be more fleshed out than in previous games. One thing that was great about this specific title was that you could call lots of people on the phone, not just Ned, Bess and George. (loved 90-something Russian Eustacia with her cat food coupons) That way it felt like you were interacting with more people that just the four in the house.

The music was very appropriate to the setting with a bit of a jazzy flair to it, even though I missed the breathy cellos of "Treasure in the Royal Tower." The puzzles, which were almost nonexistant in "Royal Tower" are back, appropriate due to the magic-influenced background of the theatre, and I like all the little puzzles scattered throughout the building (jazz puzzle, card puzzle). They weren't very hard, but I've never been one for hard puzzles in adventure games, I'm more into the figuring things out aspect.

The theatre was easy to navigate with lots of different levels, such as balconies and rooms under the stage.

The Bad
The 7 slot save feature...when will they learn? It's extremely irritating to have to save over games. Also, the music in the menu screen is the same as it's been for the past couple games, and it's a bit irritating.

Maybe this is just my own pet peeve, but the ending is way too short. I know it explains everything in a letter, but I always feel like there should be more to it.

The Bottom Line
If you want a simply good mystery game that's not very hard, but full of ambiance and interesting characters, you HAVE to buy this game. You won't be disappointed.

The Good
It wasn't so hard that I had to give up, it was actually rated higher than my age but I did it with a little encouragement from my mom and the Internet. Even though it was a bit hard, I managed to win the game by myself.

The Bad
I think that this game lacks puzzles. There isn't enough action and the "days" are too long.

The Bottom Line
I think you should buy it. It is really fun. It is a must for the whole family. I think that whoever buys it will have a great time figuring out who the kidnapper was!